Stefflon Don Channels Lil’ Kim on Cover of ‘Secure’ Mixtape

After Stefflon Don's mixtape cover for Secure leaked, the British rapper shared her thoughts on the cover in an Instagram post on Thursday (Aug. 9).

"Soooooooo I actually dropped one tear while posting this im just so excited, grateful but nervous at the same damn time Yes i payed homage to Lil KIM because I honestly don’t think i would be as fearless as i am without her period!!!!!!! SECURE the mixtape will be out AUGUST 17TH But you can PRE ORDER a signed copy Now!!!! Hit the link #Secure#stefflondon#August17th#DON#VIV#RatTrap#ILoveYouGuys#ImStillCrying#LikeABiggAssBaby@rymezbpm love you for all the hard work!" she wrote in the Instagram post.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Stefflon Don is aiming to become an even bigger act, while bridging the gap between the U.S. and her hometown of London, England. The 2018 XXL Freshman's previously-announced mixtape Secure is on the way, but the details surrounding it have been mostly kept secret. Today (Aug. 8) we have some movement on that front, as the cover to Secure recently leaked.

The Secure cover art is clearly influenced by Lil Kim's The Notorious K.I.M. album cover. A Twitter user by the name of @IMTHEDONYALL put both images side by side to show just how similar they are. Stefflon also said that Kim was one of her influences in her XXL Freshman interview. "I was definitely influenced by a lot of female rappers like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown," she shared. "They were so confident, and especially Lil Kim and Foxy and I feel like they stood out amongst all the men, to me."

Stefflon wasn't pleased to find out her cover got leaked, choosing to address it in a video that she posted on Instagram earlier today. "And to the person that leaked it, you can suck my as I’ve been deprived for the last 2 years ps ill post the image later as its only 8am in london. #Secure the image was clearly not ," she captioned the photo.

She opens the footage with, "So I woke up this morning, slightly pissed off, because my album cover has been leaked." Stefflon then explains that she had to submit her cover to her label early "for promotional reasons," so she seems to understand where things went awry. Overall, she's in good spirits. "There's worser things going on in life, it's a mixtape cover, I mean, it's out maybe a week before it's time," she says near the end of the video.

This leak comes on the heels of the release of her new single "Pretty Girl," featuring Tiggs Da Author. The reggae-tinged track features Stefflon controlling the upbeat dancehall-tinged song, sounding perfectly comfortable alongside Tiggs' work on the chorus.